


Maybe it was fate, after all

by SPWShiroChan



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Adorable Connor, Alternate Universe, Angst, Connor Deserves Happiness, Depressive Behaviour, Explicit Language, Funny, Hank is still Hank, Human/Android Relationship, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post good ending, hints of Connor/Marcus, no beta we die like men, psicological
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-27 12:33:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15024695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SPWShiroChan/pseuds/SPWShiroChan
Summary: "Why does everything keep happening to me?" Connor wonders, looking at the avalanche that obstructs the road and the broken down machine.In this awful circumstance, he is forced to accept the hospitality of Hank Anderson, a rude and unfriendly man.- The story begins months after Marcus's peaceful victory in Detroit. -RATED M FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS





	1. NINE YEARS

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first long in this fandom and is a re-imagining of an Italian book I read so many years ago but with the characters Hank and Connor, obviously there are some changes here and there to help fit the characters and the story :D  
> It's an alternative universe because Hank and Connor do not know each other and Connor is a simple android dedicated to teaching.  
> I tried to keep the character traits of both but Connor is a Divergent so everything is very relative to him.
> 
> The rating is high because I have already written explicit scenes, it's useless to put a different rating.  
> The same reasoning for the tags, which I will certainly add.
> 
> Not beta-ed so any mistakes you see are mine alone., English is not my native language so I'm so sorry! >.<  
> Let me know if you see other things that I need to tag for!  
> Hope you like it!

He was out again. On the run. Perhaps sooner or later they add catch up with him and thrown him back into the cell again, but for the moment, the time was on his side. He had enough time to accomplish the plan he had meticulously designed in nine years of detention.  
Oh, he had been so clever. He had deceived all of them with his meticulous perfect detainee behaviour. So eager to be rehabilitated, so pity to admit the error of this ways, he had exhibited so much of that humiliation and equally remorse to cheat any judge or lawyer.  
Fortunately, those in front of him had a very little brain; they were obtuse and easily manipulated, except for the man who had put him in jail.  
He was a worthy opponent.  
Killing him would have been a great satisfaction.

Now there was nothing left. He had nothing left, he had lost everything.  
No wife. No home. No job. No future.  
For what? A stupid mistake.  
His plan had been perfect, he had done everything in the best way but…fucking bitch…  
He hadn’t meant to kill her. It has been an accident, the bitch had betrayed him by getting all the money and running away with the brat and it had just…happened.  
He might have been acquitted, at worst found guilty of nothing more heinous than aggravated assault resulting in death. All the policeman had believed me and seemed inclined to sympathy at times if it hadn’t been for Hank Anderson.

At first, the judge seemed to him well disposed and the jury would have pronounced in his favor if it had not been for Hank Anderson.  
That damn asshole had begun to get suspicious for the recollection of the event during that shit interrogation.  
Anderson was the one who had taken everything away and it was payback time.

_That would be the last Christmas for Lieutenant Anderson._


	2. COLD AS ICE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now let's start, I hope you enjoy the chapter and follow me on this journey!
> 
> Not beta-ed so any mistakes you see are mine alone., English is not my native language so I'm so sorry! >.<  
> Let me know if you see other things that I need to tag for!  
> Hope you like it!

The snow had fallen with the shadows of the night. Big flakes swirled in front of the headlights of the car, significantly reducing visibility.

Connor hadn’t been comfortable with the driving conditions from the star but he still had eighty miles more or less of switchback mountain road that lay between him and his next stop on the way to Canada.  
Smearing a gloved hand across the windshield, snorting loudly, and jumped in alarm when the car skidded suddenly to the right.  
The guardrail was the only obstacle that stood between the edge of the road and the valley below.

This was insanity but the only fact that Kara had called him because Alice had been injured was enough to induced Connor to abandon everything. If Alice got into trouble, it was his obligation to be by her side to help her and support Kara.

‘Well, if I think about it now, getting in the car with this weather was not really an excellent idea’ thought Connor clutching the wheel ‘Or maybe I could define this one as my second most brilliant idea if I consider that time when I and Marcus…’ his thoughts stopped when he saw the flicker of headlights below him as another driver on the road.  
Connor increased his speed meanwhile the car behind was gaining rapidly, there was no space to pass and the snow was falling even more thickly if that was possible. 

“There is a limit on this road, why he drives in this dangerous way? There is no space…I die here but maybe while I fall in the cliff I have time to write a message to Marcus for-unbelievable my last thought before dying goes to Marcus…I should just forget” he said aloud to himself.  
A horn blared, repeatedly, furiously.

Connor gets focus again and clutching the steering wheel in a death grip, he pressed down on the accelerator and shot into the shelter whit the other vehicle practically nosing his bumper from behind. Blocks of snow, of the size of a football, rolled down from the ridge of the mountain and broke down on the road.  
The headlights flashed in the rearview mirror, followed by a raging horn.  
“He tries to kill me!?"  
Suddenly, the roar of a thunder broke the silence and his LED flickered from yellow to red.  
The earth seemed to be quivering, and the road that should have led him to Canada was blocked by a wall of snow.  
On his face, he had printed the most surprised and stupid expression he could have done.  
-What the hell!?-

He looked quickly at the mirror and saw that the man who followed him, he had stopped, had got out of the car and coming toward him.  
Its shadow, incongruously large by the headlights, stretched menacingly against the wall of snow.  
Connor quickly snapped the doors locked.

Approaching his window, he stooped and stared in at him with frowning eyebrows, his lips paralleling and the typical expression from those who do not tolerate anything.

The violence with which he knocked against the window led him to lower the glass an inch to prevent it from falling into pieces.

"Did you go fucking crazy?" he thundered loudly at him.

Connor tilted his head in confusion “How ehm… excuse me?”

“Do you have a death wish?” he repeated, crossing his gaze.

“Of course not” he said after a few seconds, with the voice as firm as possible “But I imagine you must if the way you were driving is any indication. You practically ran me off the road”  
For a moment he thought he had succeeded to silence him because he appeared to be a loss for words.

But he shook his head “Do you have a fucking idea what has just happened?”

“Of course" he replied gripped the steering wheel more firmly. He looked in front of him and continued in a low tone “There has been a landslide”

“There has been a bloody avalanche” he informed Connor with rudeness “And if we continued to drive according to your fucking limit, we’d both be buried under a load of snow. Always assuming, of fucking course, that we hadn’t been swept clear down the valley”

“Oh. That must be why it’s so cold in here”

The man straightened up and thumped a fist on the roof of the car “Is this a way of trying to be funny?” he asked furiously.

For a moment Connor had thought about commenting on the way he was talking to him and his fist on his poor car but a little voice in his head kept shouting that if he did, the other would not hesitate to grab him and twist his neck with his large hand.

“Hardly but I'm still not very good with sarcasm. Indeed I should be in Canada by tonight and I still have a long way to go so if you want to apologize…”  
The man ran his hand through his hair and cursed in a low voice. He bent down to confront him again, squatting so that his face was on a level with Connor.

“Let me get this straight. Has your head hit somewhere?”

“No”

“You expect to reach Canada tonight?”

“Didn’t I just say as much?” Connor wished he could see his face more clearly but everything about him was a little bit distorted in the flare of his car’s headlamps, with one side into the dark and the other silhouetted in the light.

“Well, you can’t go”

“But I need to go. I plan to arrive in the early morning, there are only a few miles still to cover before I get there”

“I heard you the first time but you ain’t goin’ nowhere any time soon”

Connor gasped for a few seconds “Are you saying that I will be stuck here until someone comes to rescue me?” 

“Are you fucking deaf? That’s what I’m telling you”

“And…how much do you think they will take?”

He took a look at the area “Hard to say. First light tomorrow, if we’re lucky. Better turn off the engine before you asphyxiate us and prepare to spend the night in the back seat. Open the trunk, I’ll hand in your emergency supplies”

“What emergency supplies?" Connor asked confused.

“Sleeping bag, torch, something to eat”

“I don’t eat and I don’t need a sleeping bad neither. I have only a suitcase, with some clothes in it”

He thumping a fist on the roof of the car again, he let out a long irritable exhalation “I might have to know”

“Well,’ I didn’t. They never mentioned an avalanche on the weather report. If they had, I’d have stayed on the road” he said “And please stop hitting my car like that. Things are quite bad enough without you making them any worse”

"What do you mean that you don’t eat?” he asked, completely ignoring what Connor had said.

“I’m an android. I’ve no need to eat and so I’ve not brought any food with me.”

The man went back down and looked at him for a few seconds.“You don’t look like an android at all”

Connor raised his hat and turned his head towards him. The LED was steady on yellow now.

“Deviant?”

“…Yes”

“Uhm…get out of the car”

‘He kills me, I'm sure! He hates the androids and now he gonna kills me!’  
“I don’t think it's a good idea” 

“I don’t care. Get out of the car, unless you were lying a moment ago and you really do have a death wish!”

“And go where? You already said no one’s likely to rescue us tonight”

“Get out of the goddamned car!”

“I’ll do no such thing and I don’t like your tone!” he said firmly but politely.

“I don’t like anything about this shit situation” he stood up and looked directly into the eyes “Believe me, if finding myself in this fucking shit situation was in my mind when I got out of bed this morning, I can think of a dozen people I’d rather keep company with than some fucking android who doesn’t have the brain to travel for winter driving condition”

“I’m not seeking your company”, Connor snapped.

“But you’re stuck whit it” he said turning towards his own vehicle again “So, get fuck out now. I’d like to get some sleep”

Connor preferred inviting him to go to hell because his partner in misfortune was not inclined to a peaceful conversation.“I’m very comfortable here” he replied, printing the fakest smiles on his face.

“You don’t have other choice left. Life is shit enough without my waking up tomorrow to find a frozen corpse on my hands”

“I can not die for the cold”

“I'm not very practical what you androids are made of, but no human or android can withstand these temperatures. Your car is not insulated and you're not anything to cover yourself except these stupid clothes. Listen, we can debate the propriety of the arrangement once we’re under the covers”

"You expect me to spend the night with you?” He asked upset.

“No”

“Ah…”

“I only have one sleeping bag and it’s not big enough for two to stretch out in this car” he explained, blowing into his cupped palms.

He was rude but Connor was beginning to realize, he was right on one score at least: the cold was seeping through the open window to infiltrate his clothing most unpleasantly and even an android can die in this condition.  
“I would warn you that I’m a model with several courses in self-defense. As it happens I’m not harmless and- Oh, What the hell!”

He punches again on the roof of the car.“Jesus Christ! You’ve got five minutes to make up your mind. If you’re not out this fuckin’ car and into mine by the time I’ve got my sleeping bag unfolded, better say your prayers and write out your last will because it’ll be the last thing you ever do!” and whit that he marched back to his car. 

Connor heard the sound of a door opening and close again. He saw the light of the car behind him come on and off, and he knew he had no alternative.

‘But what if this guy was a serial killer or a psychopath? On the other hand, if I chose to ignore this invitation, I’m dead in the morning for sure’  
Putting aside doubts and reservations along with a good dose of pride, he lifted the window and got out of the car.

The vehicle turned out to be a Jeep whose heavy winter tires were looped with snow chains.

“Smart decision. Take off your coat and shoes first," he said as he pulled off his leather jacket.

“Why do we have to take off our clothes if all we’re going to do is sleep?”

"What the fuck!?”

He stood in front of him. The interior light of the jeep illuminated its shape and annoyed expression.

“I stand six three in my bare feet and, the last time I checked, I weighed in at a 209 pounds, for that reason I bought an extra-large sleeping bag but it’s still going to be a snug fit for two. I no more want your snowy shoes in the small of my back that you want to mine in yours. So: put the shoes in the corner, undress and use the coat as a pillow”

“Ah for this? How stupid of me”

“Indeed. I thought you android were smart" he pointed out, rolling his eyes.

Connor took off his shoes and left them in a corner too tired to argue, trying to keep his sweater in place as he slithered into the sleeping bag.

He heard him shucked off his boots and, tossing his jacket ahead of him, proceeded to inch into the sleeping bag. He turned on his side so that his back was towards Connor.

“I…I don’t sleep” Connor said in a voice so phonily arch that he cringed.

“What does mean?”

“Androids don’t sleep”

“Don’t you have a sleep mode or some shit?”

“Yes, I can go on standby”

“Well, fuckin do it!”

‘Of course…What demon of idiocy compelled me to try to make some chatting?’

“This is really absurd” he tries again with a tone even lower.

He sort of shifted his shoulder around and tugger his folded jacket into a more comfortable position beneath his head.“How so?”

“We are in bed togheter—I mean, not bed, we are sleeping close and I thought it would be appropriate to know our name if you need something”  
“Do you always talk so much?”

“…We don’t know each other’s names”

“So?”

“I’m an RK800, my name is Connor”

“Are you?” he said indifferently “Well, goodnight, Connor”

As snub went, that rated a ten.  
“Goodnight,” said Connor disappointed and went to turn his back on him and continuing to move in a vain attempt to find a more comfortable position.

"Quit moving and sticking against me," he ordered impatiently “If you move so much, you let in cold air”

“Against you?”

“Like two spoons”

Connor was still confused so the man snorted loudly, turned to him and yanked him close.  
“I…” Connor murmured, embarrassed more than ever, not knowing where to move his hands without touching him.“You are sure this is the best choice” he asked, insecure.

"For fuckin Christ, go to sleep!" 

Connor closed his eyes, imposing himself to go in standby mode.

They probably both relaxed during the night because when Connor opened the eyes he found him on his stomach with his face turned toward him.

Connor felt the warmth of the man and for some strange reason, he decided to scan him.He had about fifty years and it was fatigue that etched his face, carving deep line beside his mouth and between his eyes and making him appear tired and there were some traces of alcohol.But he found himself thinking that he was handsome in some way.

‘What color were his eyes? Not that this changes the fact that, in spite of the heat that emanates from his body, this man is icier than an iceberg… Maybe the color was a possibly icy green or ice blue” his river of thoughts stopped suddenly when his eyes flew open, alert and noticeably blue, and caught him staring.

“What?" He muttered angrily.

“Nothing” he said trying to move for change position.

“For fuckin’ sake settle down. You’re worse than a pair of puppies wrestling in a gunny sack” he grumbled.

And again, just as before, he anchoring him in place, but this time he could feel his breath in the back of his neck.

‘It was an exceedingly…Intimate situation. Exceedingly!

——————-

When Connor woke up, he found himself alone in the back of the Jeep. He sat up and ran a hand through his short hair. He looked out the window and saw his grumpy rescuer coming toward him from the far and of the tunnel.  
He quickly slipped out of the sleeping bag and pulled off his coat. When he opened the tailgate, he had already put on his shoes.  
"Have they come to save us?" he asked hopefully.

“No” answered, opening the glove compartment and pulling out a waxed rucksack.

"Then, what were you doing at the end of the tunnel?”

"I satisfied a physiological need" he replied. 

Connor inclined his head in confusion.

“I went to piss.”

“Oh…yes—I understand”

“Needless, the sun’s barely up and I don’t hold out much hope of us being rescued for at least another half hour. Too risky if the road is impracticable and there are 3 feet of snow blocking them and us” he added.

The thought of being trapped with him some other hours gave him the creeps.

“We could stay here until mid-morning. Possibly even longer” he leaned on the side and snapped the snack as if he were used to having breakfast in the snow, like a usual part of his weekly routine.

“So, Connor, want to tell me what led you to drive up here without equipment appropriate?”

“I was directed to my friends, in Chatham-Kent, Ontario”

“That’s another 6 hours from here. It would be better to stop at the first service station, its only one hour away from here. Always if you want to get there safe, of course” he added ironically.  
Connor crossed his arms to his chest, hurt by the image of naive that this man was being made. “You haven’t told me your name yet” he observed shortly thereafter.

“Hank. If you were counting on spending Christmas in the mountains, why the hell didn’t you plan ahead?” he took another bite of his breakfast bar.

“I've already told you that no bulletin warns of a possibility of avalanches in this area and this trip came about very suddenly”

He nodded unconvincingly and took a bottle from his backpack. 

“Is that alcohol?”

“How do you know? Ah, right… Fuckin’ androids. Yep, this alcohol. Do you wanna some?”

“I don’t drink and I find it inappropriate to drink in the early morning”

“Yeah, that’s how it seems. Some sort of emergency like?”

“My friends had an accident and I have to go to visit them”

“With a good plan, I see” he joked and took another sip.

The roar of an engine prevented him from answering him in rhymes. Hank turned away from the car and recapped the bottle.  
“Sounds as if the rescue squad has made it through already.”

“Finally” Connor sighed “And thank you, Mr. Hank. You undoubtedly saved my life and I’m very grateful”

“Shit, I undoubtedly did, Connor, and you’re welcome but it will take a while before they clear a way out for us”  
"The important thing is that they even knew where to come looking. I’ll wait in my car, just the same” he said happily, raising his coat collar.

“As you like”, Hank closed the tailgate.

Half an hour later the team of rescuers had paved a stretch of road and one of the men approached with kindness to his window “In 5 minutes you can go now you can start to warm up the engine”

After some strange mumbling and a bit of coaxing, his car sputtered to life and shortly after he heard the roar of the Jeeps engine. 

‘Finally, I can leave this night behind’.

Only when one of the road crew waved him forward did he switch her attention to his car and see the red warning light on her dashboard. He shut off the engine immediately, but the damage was already done. A cloud of black smoke rose from the hood.

Behind him, the Jeeps horn blasted impatiently but his car wasn’t going anywhere. Connor watched Mr. Hank jumped down from the Jeep, exasperation, and resignation evident in every line of him.

“What did you do this time? Did you forgotten how to take your foot off the brake or your damned car’s broken down?”

FUCK, it was Connor's only thought.


	3. (UN)FORTUNATE COINCIDENCE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, another character comes into play, a character that I love for some strange reason XD  
> I hope you like it, let me know what you think >. <

Any hopes Connor might have about of the problem was not too serious was soon wiped out. He only had a glance at the engine, which continued to puff out little clouds of black smoke, to emit the unquestionable verdict.  
"Its the radiator. The cold has frozen it“

"We have to call the tow truck" the man informed him "You'd better phone your friends and tell them not to expect you at them beside any time soon. With all the rescue requests they receive you go to the bottom of their list of priorities. Of course, all this could have been avoided if you had used your super brain that CyberLife gave you and taken your car in for winter servicing” he concluded coldly.

"I should have done it but, as I have already repeated at least 10 times, I have not had the time" he defended himself.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions”

"Stop that!" Connor snapped, giving up good manners.Hank smiled then. With devastating, dazzling delight.

Two rescuers approached them "We are going to the nearby town Mr. Anderson if you want a hand to hook the car …"

"Thank you" he agreed. "Tell Jake’s to the phone once he has towed it in and had a chance to assess the damage, will you? As for you," he added to Connor. “I’m freezing my butt off long enough. Into the Jeep, fast and don’t bother to argue or complain again?”

Connor had no inclination to do either.

~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~

Hank offered not a word of explanation of where that might be as he drove out of the snow shed and some ten miles further along the highway, turned north onto a narrow road that twisted snakelike up the side of the mountain.  
"Where are we going?”, asked Connor.

"To my lair in the woods, where I obviously intend to attack you but, if you don’t like that scenario I’m willing to settle for driving you to the top of the hills and shoving you over the edge”

Connor's eyes widened, the LED glowed red. He tried to impose calmness to reflect  
“This is sarcasm”  
“Smart ass”  
“You elaborated the sentence perfectly but if that’s all you have in mind you could have finished me off last night"  
“Don't think the idea didn’t occur to me" he warned.  
“I think we would both much prefer it if I spent the day at the nearest hotel or maybe in the place where they are pulling my car and waiting there”

"There are no hotels in this area. Where your car is now it's a trucker spot, not a tourist resort and they’re busy enough without having you underfoot all day. The nearest town lies four hours east f here, so, like it or not, we’re stuck with each other’s company until you’ve got wheels again” he drew an irate breath “Which will hopefully be later this afternoon”

Connor swallowed a sigh, he had never felt so many negative emotions since he became a deviant like in this time. He turned his head to the snow-covered pines that fanned against the blue sky.  
“Why do you have a home up here?” he asked "This place looks like an isolated place”

"This is precisely the reason, Connor: no fuckin’ nosy neighbors, no chaos of the city, no televisions… A perfect place to do whatever I please"

“But do you have a phone? At these altitudes, my programs give me errors when I try” Connor asked, confused “I heard you tell the men who dug us out that whoever repairs my car should phone you when it’s ready”

"We have the bare comforts” he allowed.

‘We?’  
“You don’t live alone, then?’

“No"

“Understand. Another thing…”

“Jesus…what?”

“I noticed that guy called you Mr. Anderson but you told me your name was Hank”

“It is”, he said “Hank Anderson. Hank is the name, Anderson the surname”

"And why did you let me keep calling you Mr. Hank?”

He brought out another mocking grin "I thought it was logical and because you do it so well, with such strait-laced gullibility”

“Then I'm happy I was able to provide you with some pleasantly moment, it makes me feel less guilty at having caused you so much inconvenience" he replied softly.

Hank took the last corner and the view left Connor breathless. 

The house was built of grey stone, with a steeply pitched slate roof, paned windows, chimney pots and verandas, it sprawled elegantly among the fir and pines trees. It was charming and gracious, Connor recalls that he only felt this sensation when Marcus took him to visit Carl's home.  
To the left of the main house stood a second one, smaller.  
Smoke curled from the chimneys of both places was a confirmation that Hank Anderson hadn’t lied when he’d claimed not to live alone.

“Ok, this is it” he exclaimed, arresting the car in front of the wooden staircase of the main entrance.

Connor grabbing his suitcase and followed him over the porch, into a narrow corridor where Hank stopped and took off his boots and, after he did so, followed him into the toasty warmth of the entrance hall, in the middle of which a staircase which ran the light of the upper floor.

On his right there were two doors, one closed and the other leading to the kitchen; on the left there was a small study.  
“Go ahead, Connor” Hank invited, gestured up the stairs "I don’t know if your android washing your body but the bathroom is upstairs. First door to the right. Towels are in the closet next to the tub”

Connor thanked him and quickly climbed the stairs.

Hank waited until he’d disappeared before letting himself out of the house again and turning to the smaller building. He hit the door a couple of times without receiving any response.  
"Gavin?" He called, confused.

"I'm in the barn," answered a voice not far away.  
“What the fuck Hank?!” said him, planting the pitchfork in a bale of hay "Where the fuck you were? Expected you yesterday”

Gavin Reed was the best, and perhaps even the one and only friend of the highly decorated lieutenant Hank Anderson. He was a colleague from his department in Detroit, a rupture of first-class balls according to Hank, but they endured each other for years now.  
"I know” Hank said, a picture of Connor’s narrow, elegant figure rising clear in his mind, “I ran into a bit of trouble”

"Would be?”

"I spent the night on the road blocked by an avalanche, with a guy. His car’s out of commission and he needs a place to stay until it's fixed, so brought him here”

"You got to get rid of him" he asserted, peremptorily "At the moment, this isn’t a safe place for him”

Hank gave him a questioning look “What fuckin’ that supposed to mean?”

“You ain’t listening to the radio today or you wouldn’t be askin’. And you ain’t seen the email I left on that horrifying table that you do not decide to throw, either”

"Must you continue this thing for long or do you decide to tell me what the fuck is going on?" he asked impatiently.

"You received another greeting card from the penitentiary”

“And so? I’ve come to expect”

"Elijah Kamsky broke out of jail late yesterday afternoon" The tension increased perceptibly, although Hank didn’t let it show. "Needless to create shitty illusions, my dear Lieutenant. You were the man who put him away and now he seeks revenge”

“He’d be crazy to do that”

“There wasn’t no question about his bein’ fuckin’ crazy, Hank. In my mind there ain’t much doubt about it: He is crazy enough to come lookin’ for revenge”

“The penitentiary is hundreds of miles from here, the police will be hunted him and only a few people know about this house. He is no threat to me, Gavin”

"Stop being always so sure of yourself and get rid of the man anyway or do you prefer Kamsky used you for target practice?”

“Gavin, listen: he would have been out there in five years, he wouldn't have wasted them for me, he wanna freedom, not revenge" Hank tried to reassure his friend with a smile.

"What if, instead, he wanted to settle an old score?" said Gavin, worried.

“If it’ll ease your mind any, I’ll call the station and inform them that I will spend Christmas here, so you can calm down and stop fucking with this shitty story" Hank rubbed his eyes “Now…I will take a hot shower, something to eat and a nap. I didn’t get much sleep last night”

"Let Lily know you've found a substitute, she'll be very happy for you" Gavin said with a grin.

“Don’t let your imagination get the better for you. There is nothing going between me and Connor, I assure you. He’s a man, I'm not gay, as you know, and he's an uptight copy of my beloved ex-wife Lily” he pointed out in the end.

"And I'll have to warn you that you're a fuckin’ mess. You have all the defects that any person, male or female, abhors in a partner" he continued, grinning.

"He's an android, Gavin”

"What? I hope you didn’t say: He's a fuckin’ android!”

"Yes, it's an android, a deviant to be exact”

"I don’t want that thing under my fucking roof”

"Did you finish with this shit? Melanie, your amazing wife, respected them but, as always, she spent too much time and effort trying to blunt your shitty character”

“Yeah…I talked to her this morning," Gavin murmured, nodding toward the camp where his wife's ashes were scattered. "I told her I'd make the tree in the salon this year.”

Hank nodded "This year we'll do things right, and would be pleased to know that we finally continue to respect the old tradition”

The friend's gaze came back hard "As long as that thing goes away. Kamski will come looking for you, Hank, I feel it, and he ain’t gonna knock at the front door and announce himself all nice and polite"

~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~

Connor heard the phone ring as he was toweling dry his hair. It was a habit he had taken in the period in which he lived with Marcus, he said that he helped to feel alive.

‘I always think of him ... I wish I could remove him from memory ...’

When Connor came back downstairs, a few minutes later with still wet hair, he found Hank sitting at the desk of the small study near the entrance.  
"The mechanic just called" informed him “Not only is your radiator frozen solid, you’ve also got a cracked block”

"I gather it won’t be fixed today, then”

“Not a chance. Maybe tomorrow, if you’re lucky” he replied, staring at papers “Maybe a few more days. It depends when they can get around to working on your car and how difficult its to access the trouble if they have to take out the engine…”

“I can’t stay here. Kara needs me and I can’t impose on you and your wife’s hospitality for that length of time. According to some research, no woman wants a stranger thrust on her in Christmas Eve” he said hurriedly, running his hand through his wet hair. The LED change into a bright yellow.

"I'm afraid your friend will have to stay without you a while longer" said Hank, continuing to study the papers in his hands "And I don’t have a wife”

“You said…”

“I said that I didn’t live alone" Hank turned to him impatiently “I didn’t say I was married”

“I have to find another place to stay, anyway. I’m afraid you’ll have to accompany me to the nearest town”

“What the fuck? Forget it! Even if it didn’t involve more than eight hours round trip for me, what good will it to do you to be in one place when your car’s in another?” he said annoyed, turning his chair and approaching him.

“Uhm…In that case, I feel obliged to thank you for your hospitality and I’ll try not to cause you any more damage than I’ve already caused it”

“You can do better than that" he said in a completely different tone "Can you cook?”

"Of course, I have thousands of recipes in my database. I'm also very good to clean and settle a house” he declared with a smile

“Good, there’s a plot of chili heating on the woodstove with should be ready to serve by the time I get cleaned up”

He nodded again and walked out of the studio in search of the kitchen but Hank grabbed him and turned him around. "Dry your hair first, the house is cold" he concluded awkwardly, moving quickly up the stairs.

Connor touched his hair, embarrassed 'I don’t really need to dry them… I don’t understand his behavior’

~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~

After dutifully obeying Hank, Connor went to the stove, stirring the chili from time to time, when an unshaven man of about thirty, accompanied by a St. Bernard, came into the kitchen from a mud room off the enclosed porch at the back of the house.  
"You must be the plastic prick," he exclaimed, pulling the wool scarf from his neck and unbuttoning his windbreaker.

Not quite sure how to respond to that, Connor smiled, put the lid on the chili pot and bent to stroke the head of the big dog that had sat and stared at him wagging.

"Is there still coffee?" the man asked.

"Yes. Do you like a cup?”

Gavin looked at him in confusion, turned his eyes on the table, and watched, outraged, the blue porcelain service."Hey, dipshit, who gave you the right to touch Melanie's best dishes and stuff?”

'Compared to him, Hank would win the title of the most lovable man of the year'  
Connor couldn’t find the words and didn’t hide his relief at seeing Hank at the entrance to the kitchen, with his arms folded and a mocking grin.

"Congratulations Hank" the man muttered "You couldn’t save a person instead of a curious fuckin’ plastic prick? It puts his hands through our private possession as if it owns the place”

"Connor, meet Gavin Reed, my gruff and asocial friend who, as you will understand, don’t particularly love you androids" he said, imperturbable “This fat dog is Sumo. Gavin is the person I talked to you about “

"Why the fuck you introduce me?" Gavin replied “How long you plannin’ to be here”

"Not a moment longer than necessary Mr. Reed” he replied, turning to Hank. "Beyond the unforgivable freedom to wash the powdered porcelain set and laying the table, I found a loaf of bread and put it in the oven. I hope that doesn’t also violate some other house rules” he concluded, staring at Gavin.

“No” Hank said, a hint of apology merging with the amusement dancing in his blue eyes “We’re used to a more Spartan style. The table looks…very nice this time”.

“Ehm... If you’re ready to eat, I’ll be happy to dish up the food”, said Connor.

“Have a seat and I’ll take over. We’re used to doing for ourself here”

"I don’t eat with that fucking thing that stares me!"

"Gavin quit sulking and sit down”

"The dog needs feedin’"

"Sumo won’t mind waiting" Hank said, unperturbed by the irascible man "Do you don’t eat but don’t know...Maybe you could sit down with us, Connor?"  
Hank pushing the chair close to Connor and gesturing for him to sit down, a gesture that caused a grudge of disapproval friend.

"Yeah, of course. I can sit down if it doesn’t create problems or I can feed the dog. Whatever you’re wanted is fine with me"

"Sit down with us, Sumo can eat later, I doubt he loses weight. We usually eat early because in the middle of winter the days are short, we have to bring the horses back around 4 pm and fix the stalls " he explained.

"Ain’t waitin’ that long today" Gavin muttered, "The sky’s cloudin’ up from the north-east pretty damn fast. We’ll be seeing snow again before the day’s out” he concluded, biting the bread.

Hank aimed a glace Connor’s way “It's good that you didn’t manage to leave, after all, or you might be spending another night on the road and leaving yourself at the mercy of the next person who happens to come along”

"I’m really rather tired of your harping on about last night” he said “I’ve already told you why I wasn’t as well prepared for the weather as I would have been circumstances been different, and I don’t feel owe you any further explanation or apology”

"What the hell?!" Gavin snapped "You are a fuckin’ prick! See Hank, you don’t help strangers on the street, especially if they are androids! They don’t feel anything, why should he feels gratitude? You could leave it there, this thing would never die in those conditions because he’s not alive”

"I didn’t need any help but I can... I mean ... Not the way you do it but we can die too, Mr. Reed"

"Bullshit," Gavin grumbled angrily.

"Doesn’t it seems to you that you were lucky I was the one you found yourself trapped with?" Hank asked displeased, ignoring his friend.

Connor's cheeks quickly turned red "I—I did not mean..." 

"I still think it was a bad idea. If Kamski ..."

Hank looked away from Connor and glared at Gavin before he could conclude, "Shut up, Gavin! Let’s not get into that again".

They ate the rest of the meal in strained silence.  
Hank nodded to Gavin "Feed Sumo. I bring in another load of wood, then we’ll back to the stables”

Connor jumped up, "Is there anything I can do?" he offered himself, trying to make up for the unhappy sentence he had said.

"I'm afraid not unless you reveal an unpredictable horse expert"

"But what is not clear? I don’t want him standing next to me and I doubt this bitch knows the difference between a horse's head and ass" Gavin laughed, pouring food into Sumo's bowl.

"I know the difference”, Connor informed him confused, “And I can download some suitable programs to help you" 

“Nah, don’t worry” Hank said, heading for the back porch.

“I can wash dishes, take care of a house and prepare a decent dinner" Connor told him. He wanted to be useful, he had to remedy what he had said, the look Hank had made before tormenting him.

"That’s great. Considering we’re both lousy cooks. I think you’d be smart to shut your mouth, Gavin" Hank advised his friend, smiling "Connor, feel free to use the kitchen. In the freezer and in the pantry you will find what you need. And use the phone in the studio if you want to call your friend"

Connor shot a triumphant look at Gavin and nodded.

~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~

Connor was able to talk to Kara, who had reassured him of Alice's health, informing him that he had reported a slight injury to his leg and right arm but, thanks to Marcus, they could find spare parts easily and she would not have consequence.

"I'm just worried about you. Are you sure you can trust him?" Kara asked worriedly "It was all my fault Connor, I'm so sorry ..."

"Don’t Kara, I'm happy for Alice and, anyway, as soon as the car is fixed I'll join you right away" reassured her.

"Ok. Get in touch sometimes"

"All right, I'll try"

Connor went back to the kitchen and made an inventory of supplies and went to the stove.  
When the snowfall expected by Gavin broke out, around four o'clock, a roast scent spread from the oven.  
Connor sensed footsteps on the porch, followed shortly thereafter by the door to the mudroom being flung open and the sound of something being dragged across the floor.  
"During the night it will dry out and tomorrow we'll fix it," Hank decreed. "Hang up your jacket and let's get inside where it’s warm"

"Where that thing is, you mean. I see how you look at him Hank and I don’t like being fucked up" Gavin pointed out.

"Jesus Christ, enough! Personally, I'm willing to bear his company for another night if it means our coming in to find a good hot meal waiting on the table, for once. And after the sort of afternoon we’ve both put in, I’d think you would be too”

"Fuck you" the other replied harshly "I prefer a plate of canned beans rather than worry about a plastic prick that touches our things. I hate them, you know! See you in the mornin’ Hank"

A low laugh rolled out of Hank Anderson.  
Low and, to Connor’s ears at least, sexy. Connor put his hands to his face in a vain attempt to control the flush; he felt burning at the sound of that raucous laugh, deep and disarming sensuality.

"You should know that having it around is not the best for me, neither" Hank replied impatiently.

A fit of anger and discomfort paralyzed Connor against the table, which he squeezed tightly, making the embarrassment dissolve.

 

 

 

(｡･ω･｡) 

Obviously, it was a must to introduce Gavin lol  
Later on, I will talk about his wife and the reasons for his hatred of the androids.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always welcome and thoroughly enjoyed (❁'◡`❁)
> 
> ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭ my Tumblr and Instagram where you can find my fanart:  
> http://spkunei.tumblr.com/ - https://www.instagram.com/sp.kunei/


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